Combination ice cube, cracked ice, and quick freeze tray



March 5, 1957 R. w. YATES 8 COMBINATION ICE CUBE, CRACKED ICE, AND QUICK FREEZE TRAY Filed Aug. 21, 1953 United States Patent COMBINATION ICE CUBE, CRACKED ICE, AND QUICK FREEZE TRAY Richard Windsor Yates, Arlington, Va.

Application August 21, 1953, Serial No. 375,683

1 Claim. (Cl. 62-1085) This invention relates to ice trays for refrigerators and more particularly to those intended for the freezing of ice cubes or cracked ice.

The use of trays for the making of ice cubes is practically universal, and various designs have been developed for that purpose. The developments in general have been directed toward facilitating the removal of ice cubes from their tray compartments. However, little development appears to have been directed to the user who desires an ice tray which will produce ice in the form of cracked ice. Ofttimes a particular use of ice demands that it be in a form smaller than in cubes, such as ice for ice bags or small thermos bottles or jugs. The user may also prefer cracked ice for cooling his beverage.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a user with a new device for making cracked ice that will avoid one or more of the disadvantages and limitations of the prior art with respect to ice-making trays.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new device which will not only make cracked ice, but which will permit the user to make either ice cubes or cracked ice at his election, the device being relatively simple, inexpensive, and easily handled.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a means whereby the heat may be more rapidly removed from the center of the water to be frozen in order to reduce the freezing time of the ice.

The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and its method of operation, together with its objectives and advantages, will best be understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a typical device for the formation and removal of ice cubes in and from a refrigerator ice tray. However, the transverse separators have been punched to receive a rod through each bank of ice-cube compartments.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal drawing of the rod showing slots pertinent to its use.

Figure 3 is a drawing of a transverse separator of an ice-cube compartment showing its relation to the rod in Figure 2.

This invention utilizes many of the familiar types of devices for making ice cubes, one of which devices is illustrated in Figure 1, so long as the ice cubes are released from their compartments by reason of a longitudinal motion, either forward or backward, of the top or bottom of the transverse separators.

-A hole 2 is cut in each transverse separator at the approximate center of the side of the ice-cube compartment which it forms. The hole is round at the top and squared at the bottom. A rod 1 of aluminum, aluminum alloy, or other suitable metal is inserted through the holes in each bank of transverse separators with slots turned upward until the rod is fully inserted with a slot just above each hole in the separators. Thereafter, the rod is turned so that the slots slip down on the squared edge of the hole in each separator. The rod and bank of separators are then locked in position. The rod 1 is approximately one-fourth of an inch in diameter and the holes 2 are slightly large to allow ease of insertion. The slots in the rod 1 are made with the smallest width equal to the thickness of the transverse separators with which they are to be used. The width of the slot at the outer extremity is made 50 percent larger than the thickness of the transverse separators in order to compensate for the movement of such separators and to prevent binding at the time the device is operated to remove the ice.

When a longitudinal motion, either forward or backward, of the top or bottom of the transverse separators is eflected with the rod 1 inserted as indicated in the preceding paragraph, the ice cubes formed in each compartment are caused to be twisted upon the rod thereby causing them to crack thus producing cracked ice.

The insertion of the rod 1 through the bank of separators also acts as a conduit for an efiicient removal of the heat from the center of the ice compartments thereby speeding the freezing time of the water up to as much as 35 percent depending upon the efficiency of the cooling element. The eificiency of the removal of heat from the water in each compartment results from the fact that the thermal conductivity of aluminum is approximately 500 times that of water.

While I have described the preferred form of my invention, I do not wish to limit myself to the precise details as shown, but wish to avail myself of such variations and modifications as may come within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A device for freezing water into ice cubes and for cracking said ice cubes into fragments comprising, a tray having a base and side walls extending upwardly from said base, a plurality of spaced substantially vertical separator plates transversely disposed within said tray to form a plurality of ice cube compartments, means to effect pivotal movement of said plates about the longitudinal axis of said tray, said tray adapted to receive water to be frozen within said compartments, each of said plates having a centrally disposed opening therethrough said opening being normally completely immersed in the water contained within the tray, a rod longitudinally extending through each of said openings, said rod having a plurality of spaced notches along its entire length, each of said notches pivotably engaging the lower peripheral edge of each of said corresponding plat-e openings so that a pivotal movement of said plates about the longitudinal axis of said tray causes a simultaneous longitudinal and upward movement of said rod with respect to the base of said tray and provides sufficient stress within the ice cubes formed about the rod in said compartments to crack said cubes into fragments.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

